ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Edited by: Gabriele Balbi, Nelson Ribeiro, Valérie Schafer and Christian Schwarzenegger

Open Access available at DeGruyter (funded by the University of Luxembourg): https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783110740202/html

As media environments and communication practices evolve over time, so do theoretical concepts. This book analyzes some of the most well-known and fiercely discussed concepts of the digital age from a historical perspective, showing how many of them have pre-digital roots and how they have changed and still are constantly changing in the digital era. Written by leading authors in media and communication studies, the chapters historicize 16 concepts that have become central in the digital media literature, focusing on three main areas. The first part, Technologies and Connections, historicises concepts like network, media convergence, multimedia, interactivity and artificial intelligence. The second one is related to Agency and Politics and explores global governance, datafication, fake news, echo chambers, digital media activism. The last one, Users and Practices, is finally devoted to telepresence, digital loneliness, amateurism, user generated content, fandom and authenticity. The book aims to shed light on how concepts emerge and are co-shaped, circulated, used and reappropriated in different contexts. It argues for the need for a conceptual media and communication history that will reveal new developments without concealing continuities and it demonstrates how the analogue/digital dichotomy is often a misleading one.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TECHNOLOGIES AND CONNECTIONS

Networks: Massimo Rospocher and Gabriele Balbi

Media Convergence: John O’Sullivan and Leopoldina Fortunati

Multimedia: Katie Day Good

Interactivity: Benjamin Thierry

Artificial Intelligence: Paolo Bory, Simone Natale and Dominique Trudel

AGENCY AND POLITICS

Global Governance: Francesca Musiani and Valérie Schafer

Data(fication): Erik Koenen, Christian Schwarzenegger and Juraj Kittler

Fake News: Monika Hanley and Allen Munoriyarwa

Echo Chambers: Maria Löblich and Niklas Venema

Digital Media Activism: Emiliano Treré and Anne Kaun

USERS AND PRACTICES

Telepresence: Jérôme Bourdon

Digital Loneliness: Edward Brennan

Amateurism: Susan Aasman, Tim van der Heijden and Tom Slootweg

User-Generated Content (UGC): Göran Bolin

Fandom: Eleonora Benecchi and Erika Wang

Authenticity: Andreas Fickers

September 23-24, 2021

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Deadline (registration): September 10, 2021

Erasmus Research Centre of Media, Communication and Culture (ERMeCC) will host a conference that highlights the efforts of the H2020 research project “INVENT - European Inventory of Societal Values of Culture as a Basis for Inclusive Cultural Policies in the Globalizing World”. INVENT examines the cultural and social preconditions required to realize the goals of the New EU Agenda for Culture: the preservation and improvement of the European project, advancing the well-being of European citizens, and fostering inclusiveness, tolerance, and social cohesion.

INVENT investigates how European citizens perceive and engage with culture and how this varies for different (e.g., demographic, socio-economic, ethnic, religious) groups of people in European societies. It addresses how processes of globalization, European integration, migration, social inequalities, and digitalization affect (perceptions and experiences of) everyday life, everyday culture, and cultural participation.

Researchers, cultural stakeholders, policymakers, and students who are interested in these issues are cordially invited to participate.

The conference program on Thursday, September 23 will feature in-person presentations and discussions at Erasmus University Rotterdam that will be live-streamed for those who prefer to participate online. On Friday September 24, the conference program will be fully online.

Please visit inventculture.eu/invent-congress/ for more info and registration.

Nico Carpentier

ISBN 9781789384550

Paperback: 220 x 220 mm

166 pages

GBP 30.00

https://www.intellectbooks.com/iconoclastic-controversies

This book combines photography and written text to analyse the role of memorials and commemoration sites in the construction of antagonistic nationalism. Taking Cypriot memorializations as a case study, it shows how these memorials often support, but sometimes also undermine, the discursive-material assemblage of nationalism.

Aims:

The Iconoclastic Controversies project is a research project with multiple aims and focal points. First, as a research project, Iconoclastic Controversies enquires into the relationship of memorials and commemoration sites with antagonistic nationalism. The second aim of Iconoclastic Controversies is to contribute to the more general discussions about the relationship between the discursive and the material, as theorized in an earlier publication, the Discursive-Material Knot (Carpentier, 2017). The third aim of the Iconoclastic Controversies project is to bring a more critical and interventionist approach to the analysis, by deconstructing and de-naturalizing the Greek Cypriot hegemonic antagonistic nationalist discourse, and the material support that is provided by the majority of the memorials and commemoration sites in the south of Cyprus. Finally, the Iconoclastic Controversies research project also aims to rethink the ways that academics communicate their research outcomes, moving away from an exclusive emphasis on the written text. Moreover, the research project demonstrates how academic communicational practices —written and non-written— are not outside knowledge production processes, and cannot be confined to a second, disconnected stage. In contrast, academic communicational practices can be seen to form an integrated part of knowledge production.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Iconoclastic Controversies

Chapter 2: Communicating Academic Knowledge beyond the Written Academic Text

Chapter 3: On Antagonism and Nationalism – A Discursive- Material Re- Reading

Chapter 4: The Discourses and Materialities of Cypriot Antagonistic Nationalism

Chapter 5: The Iconoclastic Controversies Photographs

Chapter 6: The Reception of the Two Cypriot Exhibitions (with Vaia Doudaki, Yiannis Christidis and Fatma Nazli Köksal)

Chapter 7: The Interviews

Nico Carpentier is Extraordinary Professor at Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic) and President of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (2020-2023). He also holds a part-time position at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB - Free University of Brussels, Belgium), as Associate Professor. Moreover, he is a Research Fellow at Loughborough University. His previous monograph was The Discursive-Material Knot: Cyprus in Conflict and Community Media Participation (2017, Peter Lang, New York). Recent (co-)edited volumes are: Cyprus and its Conflicts. Representations, Materialities, and Cultures (2018, co-edited), Critical Perspectives on Media, Power and Change (2018, co-edited), Respublika! Experiments in the Performance of Participation and Democracy (2019, edited), Communication and Discourse Theory (2019, co-edited) and Communication as the Intersection of the Old and the New (2019, co-edited). See http://nicocarpentier.net/

September 10, 2021

Online conference

We are happy to announce the program of the ECREA 2021 remote post conference entitled “Old Media Persistence” (Webex platform, Septembre 10, 2021), co-organized by three ECREA Thematic Sections: Communication History, Radio and Sound, Television Studies.

To register and join the virtual program through Webex, please send an email to valerie.schafer@uni.lu until September 8, 2021.

Look at the program on the conference website (https://oldnewspersistence.com/program/) or check it below:

9.00-9.15: Introduction (Tiziano Bonini, Juan Francisco Gutiérrez Lozano, Valérie Schafer)

9.15-10.30: Panel 1

Old and New: persistence and co-existence

Chair: Berber Hagedoorn

• Gabriele Balbi, Old media persistence in the digital era. A theory
• Anne F. MacLennan, Radio old and new: Persistence of Canadian radio broadcasting in a digital world
• Jutta Roeser & Jo Marie Dominiak, How old and new music media coexist in everyday life: Media consumption between dynamics and persistence

10.30-10.45: Virtual coffee break

10.45-12.00: Panel 2

Audiovisual transformations: Continuities and inspirations

Chair: Christian Schwarzenegger

• Josep Maria Martí, Belén Monclús, Maria Gutiérrez, Xavier Ribes & Pau Lluis, The Spanish radio industry at the digital crossroad
• Paloma López Villafranca & Silvia Olmedo Salar, The transformation of radio drama into sound fiction on radio stations and audio platforms in Spain
• Andreas Schellewald, Locating the popular pleasures of TikTok historically

12.00-13.00: Virtual Lunch break

13.00-14.30: Panel 3

Live and let die: Survival, re-emergence and nostalgia

Chair: Salvatore Scifo

• Jacob Ørmen, Rasmus Helles, & Klaus Bruhn Jensen, Mass media are dying – Long live mass communication!
• Jonas Harvard & Ingela Wadbring, Let print die! Radical digital innovation in a Swedish local newspaper conglomerate and the idea of outdated “old media”
• João Pereira de Matos, Beyond nostalgia and emulation: Teletext as an ontotechnology of resistance
• Shellie McMurdo & Laura Mee, Haunted tape: Video, horror and nostalgia

14.30-14.45: Virtual Coffee break

14.45-16.15: Panel 4

Persisting Practices

Chair: Nazan Haydari

• Philipp Seuferling, Persisting media practices: An approach to historicize media in contexts of refugee governance
• Sergio Minniti, A “biographical” approach to retromedia practices: The case of Polaroidism
• Juliette de Maeyer & Will Mari, Acoustic phone couplers: An enduring analog-to-digital “bridge” technology for news workers
• Alexia Cappuccio, Can the radio still produce quality journalistic information? Work, roles, and news production of the French public radio journalists

16.15: Concluding remarks (Gabriele Balbi, Berber Hagedoorn, ‪Belén Monclús Blanco)

January 20-21, 2022

Stadscampus, Prinsstraat 13, Antwerp

Deadline: September 15, 2021

Two-day international film studies conference organized by the Research Centre for Visual Poetics at the University of Antwerp

Confirmed Keynote Speakers

• Marco Grosoli (Habib University, Karachi)
• Richard Suchenski (Bard College, New York)

The ‘return’ to Romanticism in the recent consideration of modernist cinemas (see Richard Suchenski, Projections of Memory: Romanticism, Modernism, and the Aesthetics of Film; Daniel Morgan, Late Godard and the Possibilities of Cinema) can be taken as a way to frame the apparent contradictions in the work of a number of key figures: the revolutionary cinema of Jean-Luc Godard seems at odds with the seeming reactionism of a sanctification of natural beauty in his ‘late’ works. The strict materialism of Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet, in its turn, gave way to reflections on the necessity of myth and utopian ideals in the politicization of art. And although the cinema of Marguerite Duras is characterized by a destructive negativity, her films exhibit a minute attention to material presence. We believe that the same contradictions that characterize these works can be found in the films of a number of contemporary filmmakers - Chantal Akerman, Abbas Kiarostami, Hong Sang-soo, Wang Bing, Lav Diaz, Albert Serra etc. - allowing us to align them with the project of aesthetic modernism. It is our contention (one we share with Nancy, Lacoue-Labarthe, Rancière, J.M. Schaeffer and others) that this project can indeed best be approached by considering its romantic undercurrent.

Focal points

We invite papers that address these romantic legacies according to these three axes or focal points: totality, infinity, negativity.

These correspond to what we feel to be three key genealogical lines in the history of modern cinema:

• reductive aesthetics and negativity;
• revelationist aesthetics and mysticism;
• the aspiration towards totality and the persistence of myth.
• We encourage contributions that take an interdisciplinary and genealogical approach to film aesthetics.

Topics

Proposals may address but are not limited to the following:

• The cinema and aesthetics of Jean-Luc Godard, Marguerite Duras, Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet, Werner Schroeter, Jacques Rivette, Chantal Akerman, Eric Rohmer, Abbas Kiarostami, Wang Bing, Lav Diaz, Hong Sang-Soo, Albert Serra (non-exhaustive list).
• The contemporaneity of contradictions: materialist and idealist, reactionary and revolutionary, Catholic and Marxist, realist and modernist, pessimism and utopia; fragmentation and totality, mystic solemnity and playful irony, and so on. In which ways do these contradictions underlie contemporary film aesthetics in spite of their apparent theoretical inconsistency?
• Parallel developments: the entwinement of film aesthetics with art criticism, philosophy, literature and other artistic disciplines. We welcome papers that take this shared heritage and the transitions between these disciplines as their starting point to reassess the aesthetics of contemporary cinema.
• Genealogies: How did key ideas such as infinity, totality, negativity, and so on, enter the aesthetics of cinema? We are looking forward to new insights into the history of these ideas as they might advance unexpected ways of reading, seeing and understanding contemporary film aesthetics.
• Aesthetics and Politics; Politics and Aesthetics: Both the socio-political background of cinematic practices and politically engaged aesthetics - as well as the often paradoxical relation between the two - require our attention. How do these aesthetics make visible the covert persistence or revival of seemingly marginalized conceptions of art, which, upon their reinscription in contemporary contexts, give way to new interpretations of the aims and utopian claims that characterized them?

Proposal submissions

Proposals for paper presentations can be sent to poeticinsurrections.conference@uantwerp.be by the 15th of September 2021. Please also include a 300 word abstract and a short bio.

September 20, 2021

Deadline: September 3, 2021

The recent growing popularity of TikTok has transformed the cultures and practices of social movements online worldwide. Despite several concerns towards the app, regarding weak security (Chae, 2020; Dziedzic, 2020), moral panics incited by malicious content on TikTok (Purwaningsih, 2018) and some countries’ (temporary) ban on the platform (e.g. Indonesia, Pakistan, India), TikTok has rapidly grown as the “hottest app of 2020” in the world (Brigham, 2020). Its functionality (e.g. short-video, voiceover, meme template, background music, duet, hashtag) and unique genres (e.g. dance, comedy, social media challenge) have expanded existing social media cultures and enabled users to engage with other users, social issues, and even misinformation and online toxicity with ease and fun.

As part of such cultural moves, TikTok users establish their vernacular cultures and find their meaningful use of the platform by leading or participating in various types of movements for global awareness, social change, and civic politics. This includes Young TikTok users’ climate activism (Hautea et al., 2021); Growing anti-racist movements, such as the continuation of “Black Lives Matter” on TikTok (Janfaza, 2020; Richardson, 2020); and emerging hashtag streams like #StopAsianHate in response to increasing violence against Asians in the pandemic (Hanson, 2021).

The affordances of TikTok provide room for creativity with music and filters powered by AI technologies, which facilitates the formulation of identity politics and cultures. Recent examples include Young Indian women’s lip-syncing to Bollywood songs against the caste system (Subramanian, 2021); LGBTQI+ users’ use of various filters to advocate for diversity (Simpson & Semaan, 2021); Young users’ meme cultures (Zeng & Abidin, 2021) as consciousness building work (Anderson & Keehn, 2020; Literat & Kligler-Vilenchik, 2019); Older generations’ collaboration with younger generations (Hood, 2020). However, social movements on TikTok are not always specifically targeted towards social justice, but may often also advocate for specific beliefs that mirror global politics, such as Anti-vaccine movements and distribution of misinformation (Basch et al., 2021); Far-right movements (Weimann & Masri, 2020).

Focusing on the newly emerging cultures on TikTok, scholars in Media Studies, Communication Studies, Sociology, and Anthropology also have begun to develop “TikTok Studies”, looking for instance at emergent meme cultures on TikTok (Zeng & Abidin, 2021; Zeng et al., 2020; Zulli & Zulli, 2020), TikTokers as new types of internet celebrities (Abidin, 2021), users’ music practices (Kaye et al., 2021), the emergence of new teenage pop culture (De Leyn et al., 2021), online learning on TikTok (Li et al., 2021; Literat, 2021), novel methodologies for TikTok (Schellewald, 2021), and the newly emerging geopolitics around the app (Gray, 2021).

In response to this expansion of scholarship on TikTok and alongside the TikTok Cultures Research Network’s ethos to cultivate diversity and equity in academic scholarship, we will be holding a one-day online Symposium (on Zoom) to showcase emergent research on the potentials, promises, pitfalls, and parameters of such social movements on TikTok. The Symposium seeks to provide a meaningful opportunity to reflect on the evolving cultures and practices around the civic and social movements on TikTok, wherein various actors on the platform across the globe advocate for social justice and specific values, develop grassroots networks and resources, and engage with others. We invite submissions on themes that include, but are not limited to:

• Politics, digital circulation, and/or economies of movements on TikTok
• Online activism, campaigns, and protest on TikTok
• Intersections of sexuality, gender, race, ethnicity, and more on TikTok
• Emerging TikTok practices and communities for advocacy
• Far-right, or alt-right movements on TikTok
• Roles and affordances of the platform technologies in mobilizing movements
• Surveillance of TikTok movements
• Consequences and pitfalls of TikTok movements

HDRs, ECRs (up to 5 years post-PhD + career interruptions), and scholars in/or from the Global South are strongly encouraged to apply. A selection of papers will also be considered for inclusion in a Special Issue tentatively entitled “TikTok and Social Movements” that will be published in a top-ranked peer-reviewed journal in the field of Media Studies, Internet Studies, and Communication Studies.

For consideration in this Symposium, please submit abstracts (up to 250 words) on previously unpublished papers and a short bio (up to 100 words) to TikTok Cultures Research Network (tiktokcultures@gmail.com).

Key Dates:

• 03 September 2021 – Abstracts and biographies due
• 08 September 2021 – Notifications of acceptance
• 20 September 2021 – TikTok and Social Movements Symposium, tentatively 1200–1600hrs, GMT+8

We look forward to receiving your submissions! Please contact TikTok Cultures Research Network (tiktokcultures@gmail.com) with any questions about this event.

This Symposium is the fourth event organized by the TikTok Cultures Research Network, an Asia Pacific-based Network dedicated to understanding and developing qualitative and cultural approaches to studying the impact of TikTok on society, founded by A/Prof Crystal Abidin and supported by a network of Founding Members in October 2020. This event is supported by the Centre for Culture and Technology, and financed by Strategic Investment funding from the Faculty of Humanities at Curtin University.

TikTok and Social Movements team,

Dr Jin Lee, A/Prof Crystal Abidin, and Dr Bondy Kaye

University of Groningen

Apply here: https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S0008M6P

Job description

The successful candidate will provide leadership to develop and grow the chair group’s research agenda and educational programs. The position consists of three major task components: research, teaching and management.

• Research

The research task of the full professor covers 40% of the appointment. Research in the field of Media Studies is housed in the Groningen Research Institute for the Study of Culture (ICOG) and, within this, in the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies (CMJS) which has been assessed as excellent/world-leading in the last research accreditation. Furthermore, we host the national research school RMeS (Research school Media Studies). The new chair is expected to develop a research agenda on the interface of cultural industries, media and digitalization and attracting research funding as well as knowledge application/valorization. They will also actively participate in the interdisciplinary Jantina Tammes School for Digital Society, Technology and AI at the University of Groningen.

• Teaching

The teaching task covers 60% of the appointment (minus management time). The new chair is expected to lecture in the field of Media Studies and, more specifically, Media and Cultural Industries. The international, English-taught BA programme in Media Studies (https://www.rug.nl/bachelors/media-studies/), containing the second year Cultural Industries profile of 30 EC, focuses on the social and informative functions of media. It is rooted in the humanities but also draws upon methods and paradigms developed in the social sciences. The programme has an annual enrolment of 120 students from all parts of the world. Our five MA programmes (https://www.rug.nl/masters/media-studies/) provide students with cutting-edge knowledge of media and the digital transformations that profoundly change society. In addition, the department offers minor and pre-master programmes Media Studies and Journalism Studies. Our BA and MA programmes rank first among all Media Studies programmes in the Netherlands in the national student survey.

• Management

The chair is expected to perform management duties within the department of Media Studies and Journalism and, more broadly, within the Faculty of Arts. On the national and international level, the chair will participate in relevant networks.

Qualifications

We are looking for candidates who are internationally recognized in Media and Cultural Industries with a strong interest in processes of digitalization, datafication and platformization.

We encourage you to apply if you have:

• a PhD degree in Media Studies, Communication Studies or a closely related discipline
• an excellent research track record, as evidenced by an outstanding publication record of high-quality books and articles in international peer-reviewed journals
• successfully obtained funding for research projects/submitted excellent grant applications
• a relevant, strategic international network, demonstrated by, for example, participation in internationally renowned conferences and leading roles in editorial boards of academic journals
• extensive experience with teaching, active learning, coordination, independent supervision (of BA/MA students, PhD’s and Postdocs) and administrative tasks in BA/MA degrees programs related to Media Studies and/or Communication Studies
• an innovative view on teaching & teaching methods, including interdisciplinary teaching
• excellent leadership skills and demonstrable organizational competences
• a strong societal network and demonstrable experience with societal impact
• fluency in English (C1 level of the CEFR) and Dutch or willingness to learn the Dutch language within two years (to at least C1 level of the CEFR – for reading and listening).

And you are:

• an internationally recognized expert in Media Studies and/or Communication Studies who studies the field from a broad and interdisciplinary perspective
• communicating a clear vision of academic education and research, transcending your own discipline
• able to supervise, mentor and encourage the relatively young, dynamic team of staff members
• capable of and willing to create and strengthen collaborations between the department, the Research Institute, the Faculty and the broader research field and society
• acting as a representative of the programs to students and a broader audience, with a strong societal network and demonstrable experience with societal impact; capable of translating research and teaching to a general audience
• representing the field through his/her contacts with other universities in the Netherlands
• expected to acquire external research funding
• contributing to the organization of the department, cluster and faculty, for example by participating in committees and working groups in the fields of teaching, research and management
• a team player with good communication skills
• willing to fulfill the requirements for the University Teaching Qualification and academic leadership courses with the ability to reflect on your leadership skills and style.

Familiarity with the Dutch educational system is considered an asset.

Special Instructions to Applicants:

The Faculty is considering only those applicants who are ready to move to Groningen and live in the near environment of Groningen within a period of two years.

Organisation

University of Groningen

Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has established an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative university offering high quality teaching and research. Its 36,000 students are encouraged to develop their own individual talents through challenging study and career paths. The University of Groningen is an international center of knowledge: it belongs to the best research universities in Europe, and is allied with prestigious partner universities and networks worldwide. For additional information (https://www.rug.nl/(...)k-with-us/new-staff/). The University of Groningen has a strong commitment to the principles and practices of diversity and inclusion throughout the University community and welcomes candidates who enhance that diversity.

Faculty of Arts

The Faculty of Arts is building on a longstanding tradition of four centuries. Its mission is to be an ambitious top-ranking faculty in terms of both education and high-quality research, with a strong international orientation, firmly rooted in the North of the Netherlands. The faculty creates and shares knowledge through outstanding education and high-quality research, benefitting to society. With more than 5,500 students, the faculty is heavily involved in educating students, both Dutch and international.

Media Studies

Media Studies in Groningen is rooted in the humanities domain but also draws upon methods and paradigms developed in the social sciences domain of communication science. It has a specific focus on the informative and social functions of media. With media and mediation at the heart of contemporary culture and life, we study and reflect on media’s impact in a wide variety of environments, whether it is social media, print, websites, radio, television, or search engines. Our degrees aim to provide students with a thorough understanding of the affordances of different platforms and the interplay between them; the political and economic underpinnings of media systems; patterns of use, production and content; and the functions and impact of media in culture and society. Our research and teaching is characterized by a comparative perspective by studying media in their cultural, historical, economic, political and international contexts. We have a focus on cultural industries, digital cultures, journalism studies, audiovisual culture, and politics and global citizenship.

Chair of Media and Cultural Industries

For this Chair the media and cultural industries in all their facets are central, with an emphasis on processes of digitalization, datafication and platformization. Media are central to the cultural industries, also known as the creative industries. Cultural industry scholars are turning their attention to the growing cultural influence of the technology sector. Tensions and collaboration between tech giants and the traditional cultural sector is reshaping these industries and the cultural content they produce. This has implications for cultural creators, for citizens, and for culture. How are citizens impacted and how do policy makers at all levels respond? How do platform politics influence which stories get told and which ones get ignored? What happens when cultural texts are reframed as 'content'? What is at stake when cultural curation is outsourced to algorithms and how does the automation of cultural production affect work and meaning? These questions are central to the new chair of Media and Cultural industries.

A full description of the chair of Media and Cultural Industries can be obtained from the Office of the Faculty of Arts (see below for contact information).

Conditions of employment

The appointment will be at the level of Full Professor with a gross monthly salary depending on qualifications and work experience from € 5,749 up to a maximum of € 8,371 (salary scale H2 of Dutch Universities) for a full-time position. On top of that income, the candidate will receive an 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3% of your yearly salary. The conditions are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU).

Date of appointment: February 2022 (or as soon as possible afterwards).

The faculty will facilitate you in obtaining the requested qualifications for teaching and the Dutch language during the first two years of your appointment.

Application

You can submit your application until 24 September 11:59pm / before 25 September 2021 Dutch local time (CET) by means of the application form (click on "Apply" below on the advertisement on the university website).

Applicants should fill in the application form and upload four PDF files:

1. cover letter - outlining your motivation and suitability for the role and demonstrating how you meet the eligibility criteria outlined above.

2. cv - including a list of five self-selected best papers or publications, the complete list of publications and names and contact details of at least three references.

3. statement of research accomplishments and plans + teaching statement (maximum two pages in total). This can be uploaded under ‘extra document’ on the website.

4. an appropriate and characteristic writing sample. This can be uploaded under ‘extra document’ on the website.

A trial lecture is part of the standard procedure. A (personality) assessment may be part of the procedure.

The first round of interviews will be scheduled at the end of October; the second round of interviews is scheduled for the first half of November 2021.

We provide career services for partners of new faculty members moving to Groningen

We are an equal opportunity employer that values diversity. We have adopted an active policy to increase the number of female scientists across all disciplines of the university. Therefore, women are encouraged to apply. Our selection procedure follows the guidelines of the Recruitment code (NVP), https://www.nvp-hrnetwerk.nl/sollicitatiecode/ and European Commission's European Code of Conduct for recruitment of researchers, https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/charter/code

Unsolicited marketing is not appreciated.

Information

For information you can contact:

Ms T. Oosterman, + 31 50 3635834, t.e.oosterman@rug.nl

Prof. Anthonya Visser, Ddean of the Faculty of Arts, anthonya.visser@rug.nl

Please do not use the e-mail address(es) above for applications.

May 12-13, 2022

Berlin (Germany)

Deadline: September 20, 2021

A Japanese-German Conference and Edited Volume (2022)

Current debates on artificial intelligence often conflate the realities of AI technologies with the fictional renditions of what they might one day become. They are said to be able to learn, make autonomous decisions or process information much faster than humans, which raises hopes and fears alike. What if these useful technologies will one day develop their own intentions that run contrary to those of humans?

The line between science and fiction is becoming increasingly blurry: what is already a fact, what is still only imagination; and is it even possible to make this clear-cut distinction? Innovation and development goals in the field of AI are inspired by popular culture, such as its portrayal in literature, comics, film or television. At the same time, images of these technologies drive discussions and set particular priorities in politics, business, journalism, religion, civil society, ethics or research. Fictions, potentials and scenarios inform a society about the hopes, risks, solutions and expectations associated with new technologies. But what is more, the discourses on AI, robots and intelligent, even sentient machines are nothing short of a mirror of the human condition: they renew fundamental questions on concepts such as consciousness, free will and autonomy or the ways we humans think, act and feel.

Imaginations about the human and technologies are far from universal, they are culturally specific. This is why a cross-cultural comparison is crucial for better understanding the relationship between AI and the human and how they are mutually constructed by uncovering those aspects that are regarded as natural, normal or given. Focusing on concepts, representations and narratives from different cultures, the conference aims to address two axes of comparison that help us make sense of the diverse realities of artificial intelligence and the ideas of what is human: Science and fiction, East Asia and the West.

Papers are invited on the following topics (among others):

• Which meanings and functions are ascribed to AI technologies and robots?
• How is science informed by popular discursive images of AI?
• Which cultural differences are there concerning the relationship between the natural and the artificial? What are the particular traditions of how to represent the human and its technological surrogates?
• What can the different cultural and conceptual histories tell us about our present and future with artificial intelligence?

Besides papers on these more general topics, we also invite case studies on innovative technologies and their fictional precursors as well as on the social, ethical or political contexts in which they are applied. All contributions are expected to address the comparative perspective on East Asian and Euro-American discourses.

Relevant issues and perspectives for these comparisons include but are not limited to cyberpunk and science-fiction in literature and film, public debates and imaginations of AI, the relation between simulation and reality, materiality, historical and legal accounts, sociotechnical imaginaries and politics.

We welcome contributions from scholars of diverse disciplines, such as cognitive science, computer science, cultural studies, literature and film studies, media and communication studies, psychology, political science, science and technology studies or sociology. Interdisciplinary approaches (e.g., those combining social, cultural and technical perspectives) as well as perspectives from practitioners and developers are particularly encouraged.

Submission process

Extended abstracts of approximately 4,000 to 6,000 characters in length (excl. references) should be submitted no later than 10 February 2021 to ai21@hiig.de

Speakers will be notified by 15 March 2021.

Conference and publication of selected papers in an edited volume

The conference will take place on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 June 2021 in Berlin.

Invitations for the submission of selected full manuscripts sent out in July 2021.

Full manuscripts of between 30.000 to 50.000 characters (excluding references) to be submitted by September 2021.

Comprehensive review returned to authors in December 2021; final papers due in February 2022.

The edited volume will be published in early 2022.

If you have any questions, you can contact the conference organisers via ai21@hiig.de.

School of Communication and Media, Ulster University, Northern Ireland

Closing date: 29 August 2021

General areas: Communication theory and applied communication (particularly organisational/strategic and interpersonal communication)

Job Purpose:

Communication programmes in the School of Communication and Media cover a breadth of pure and applied disciplines in communication. The postholder will be expected to contribute across these programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate level; to provide an outstanding student experience; to undertake administrative duties related to undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Further details and application at:

https://www.ulster.ac.uk/about/jobs

University of Stirling

Full time, Open ended

The closing date for applications is midnight on Sunday 29 August 2021

Interviews are expected to take place week commencing 06 September 2021

For the purposes of sponsorship, this is a postdoctoral role under SOC code 2311

The University of Stirling recognises that a diverse workforce benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers and welcome applications from those who would contribute to further diversification of our staff and ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion is woven into the substance of the role. We strongly encourage applications from people from diverse backgrounds including gender, identity, race, age, class, and ethnicity.

The Post

Communications, Media & Culture (CMC) wishes to appoint a suitably qualified and experienced candidate at Lecturer Grade 8 with specialist interests in Digital Media to expand the Division’s teaching, research and knowledge exchange activities.

The successful candidate will be an excellent communicator who is able to effectively teach, motivate and mentor undergraduates and postgraduates. They will make a contribution to the strategic direction of CMC through research, teaching and impact activities, including short-course opportunities. The successful candidate will contribute to the delivery of modules on the MSc in Digital Media and Communications and BA Hons in Digital Media. Applicants with specialist knowledge, skills or interests in one or more of the following areas are invited to apply:

• Digital design
• Creative digital practice
• Animation and visualisation
• Interactive media
• Digital user experience and user design
• Digital brand communications

The postholder will be researcher who has expertise in design and visual communications for digital media, user and audience experiences or creative digital practice, evidenced by published research and recognition among research users and / or industry. They will have a growing research profile in digital media and will engage effectively with external stakeholders to pursue opportunities for collaboration, income generation and enhancing CMC’s regional, national, and international profile.

Informal enquiries can be made to Dr William Dinan, Head of the Division of Communications, Media & Culture: william.dinan1@stir.ac.uk

Description of Duties

• Engage in individual and collaborative research, which aligns to the strategic direction of the University, establish a distinctive programme of research and disseminate results through regular publication in high impact journals, books and conference proceedings and undertake knowledge exchange activities
• Identify appropriate sources of funding for research, consultancy, and impact generating activity; prepare research proposals for funding bodies; project manage research activities, and manage grants awarded
• Supervise and mentor research students and staff as required, providing direction, support and guidance
• Design, deliver, assess and evaluate a range of teaching and learning, supervision and assessment activities across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes including online/digital programmes, where required
• Contribute to curriculum review and enhancement, in a manner that supports a research-led approach to student learning and enhances student experience and employability
• Participate in the Faculty’s local, national and international impact and engagement activities as required e.g. delivering teaching & CPD, contributing to joint programmes and recruitment of students. This is likely to require occasional short periods of international travel
• Participate in, and develop, networks and collaborations both internally and externally to the Division/Faculty/University
• Participate in the administrative processes of the Division/Faculty/University including committee membership, quality assurance procedures and recruitment and admission of students
• Engage in continuing professional development activities as appropriate.
• Any other duties, commensurate with the grade of the post

Essential Criteria

Qualifications

• PhD in relevant discipline or equivalent professional experience

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Established track record of high quality published research in Digital Media and Communications Studies
• A record of involvement in applications for external funding for research and/or knowledge transfer/exchange projects
• Experience of supervising dissertation projects across the range of undergraduate/ postgraduate and of supervising doctoral students
• Experience of providing high quality teaching, including teaching innovation, across a range of programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate level preferably including online/digital/international programmes
• Experience of designing and delivering course modules, developing effective learning environments, and approaches to enhance the student experience
• Evidence of successful co-ordination, support, supervision, management and/or mentoring of others
• Evidence of engaging in and developing external networks

Desirable Criteria

Qualification

• Higher Education teaching qualification or equivalent e.g. PGCert and/or holding an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and be working towards Fellowship

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

• Evidence of collaborative research and interdisciplinary work with non-academic partners across the creative and digital industries
• Demonstrates a thorough understanding of effective approaches to teaching and learning support as a key contribution to high quality student learning
• Evidence of programme innovation and development
• Evidence or knowledge to support international and impact generating activities

• Evidence or knowledge of the Higher Education context and regulatory framework
• Experience of designing and delivering CPD and training across creative and digital industries
• Evidence of successful incorporation of subject research within design and delivery of learning activities and programme development as part of an integrated approach to academic practice
• Able to demonstrate a commitment to advancing equality, diversity and inclusion. This might include - but is not limited to - evidence of work to advance gender equality, positive mental health, disability equality, anti-racism or tackling gender-based violence

Behaviours and Competencies

The role holder will be required to evidence that they can meet the qualities associated with the following behavioural competencies, as detailed within the AUA Competency Framework.

1. Managing self and personal skills - Being aware of your own behaviour and mindful of how it impacts on others, enhancing personal skills to adapt professional practice accordingly
2. Delivering excellent service - Providing the best quality service to external and internal clients. Building genuine and open long-term relationships in order to drive up service standards.
3. Finding solutions - Taking a holistic view and working enthusiastically to analyse problems and to develop workable solutions. Identifying opportunities for innovation.
4. Embracing change - Being open to and engaging with new ideas and ways of working. Adjusting to unfamiliar situations, shifting demands and changing roles.
5. Using resources effectively - Identifying and making the most productive use of resources including people, time, information, networks and budgets.
6. Engaging with the wider context - Enhancing your contribution to the organisation through an understanding of the bigger picture and showing commitment to organisational values.
7. Developing self and others - Showing commitment to own ongoing professional development. Supporting and encouraging others to develop their professional knowledge, skills and behaviours to enable them to reach their full potential.
8. Working together - Working collaboratively with others in order to achieve objectives. Recognising and valuing the different contributions people bring to this process.
9. Achieving Results - Consistently meeting agreed objectives and success criteria. Taking personal responsibility for getting things done.

About Us

The Division of Communications, Media and Culture (CMC) at Stirling is an internationally renowned centre for research and teaching. Ranked top in Scotland for Journalism (NSS 2020), the Division consistently draws high ratings for its teaching across digital media, production and journalism at all levels. Our students frequently win awards at major national competitions and many go on to become successful practitioners, entrepreneurs and executives in the media, creative and communications industries globally.

CMC research expertise spans the humanities, social sciences and management. We have long been recognised for our research in screen studies, media and cultural policy and in recent years our research has increasingly focused on digital communications and technologies. Our expansion strategy has seen the arrival of a group of talented new colleagues with diverse interests including data journalism and analytics, the creative economy, design, animation, interactive media, sound and digital publishing. The Division now offers a wide choice of options in taught postgraduate and undergraduate programmes, and in doctoral research, spanning digital media, creative industries and cultural policy, political and promotional communications.

CMC is committed to supporting and promoting equality and diversity and to being an inclusive workplace. We believe this can be achieved through attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse range of staff from different backgrounds. In supporting our employees to achieve a balance between their work and their personal lives, we will also consider proposals for flexible working or job share arrangements.

The University

The University of Stirling is a leading UK teaching and research-intensive university, created by Royal Charter in 1967. Since its foundation, the University has embraced its role as an innovative, intellectual and cultural institution with a pioneering spirit and a passion for excellence in all that it does.

In 2016, the University launched its current Strategic Plan https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/our-vision/our-strategy/ (2016-2021), with targets to: be one of the top 25 universities in the UK; increase income by £50 million; enhance its research profile by 100 per cent; and ensure internationalisation is at the heart of everything it does.

With three-quarters of its research ranked world-leading and internationally-excellent (Research Excellence Framework 2014), the University’s groundbreaking, interdisciplinary research makes a difference to society and has a positive impact on communities worldwide. Stirling’s research is making a positive impact on people’s health, education and wellbeing, with key strengths across our research themes of: Cultures, Communities and Society; Global Security and Resilience; and Living Well. The University collaborates with international governments and policymakers, businesses, industry, and charitable organisations, to tackle and provide solutions to some of the toughest global societal challenges.

For more information on working at Stirling, please visit https://www.stir.ac.uk/about/work-at-stirling/.

The University offers great benefits such as generous annual leave and membership of the Universities Superannuation Scheme. Additionally staff can benefit from a reduced membership rate at the University's excellent Sport Centre facilities.

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